


we slip and slide as we fall in love

by dygonilly



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Anal Sex, Background Relationships, Blow Jobs, Cruise AU, Dialogue Heavy, First Time, Fluff and Humor, Hoshi (horny hoshi), Lifeguard Mingyu, M/M, Multi, Strangers to Lovers, Summer Romance, bisexual soonyoung, flavoured condoms: property of wen junhui, soonyoung pov, the author has decided to log out of her own brain for a while, unironic hawaiian shirt wearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:35:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24344362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dygonilly/pseuds/dygonilly
Summary: “You should come to the pool sometime!” says Mingyu, walking backwards. “Deck fourteen, near the slides. Bring your friends.”“Sure,” Soonyoung calls over the sound of the engine. Mingyu gives him a happy thumbs up before disappearing inside. Soonyoung takes out his phone and opens the voice notes app. “Day one. This was the best decision of my adult life. I’ve thrown up five times, but it was worth it because I just met the most beautiful man on this ship. Is it gay to be concerned for a stranger’s health and wellbeing? I’ll ask the boys. And I’ll check in with an update tomorrow. I love you. Spirit of the tiger!” He growls and ends the recording.(or: Soonyoung and The Boys go on a cruise for his birthday, and they meet some more boys)
Relationships: Kim Mingyu/Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi
Comments: 68
Kudos: 347





	1. I got my swim trunks and my flippie-floppies

**Author's Note:**

> sometimes u gotta write nonsense with a gentle sprinkle of summer love. i hope this makes u laugh.
> 
> title from [Just Can't Get Enough](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6FBfAQ-NDE) by Depeche Mode because if Hoshi's brainwaves had a sound it would be an 80's synth. fight me in the comments if you disagree, and if you find any errors in the sacred texts, simply look away.
> 
> (quick cw for emetophobia in this part - there's general discussion of seasickness and some throwing up happens at the beginning, but nothing after the 'safety briefing' and soonyoung going back to his room)

"Hey. Jihoon.”

"What."

"Do you want to know something funny?"

A sigh. “Sure.”

"I get super seasick. Like crazy, disgusting, throwing up everywhere.”

Jihoon takes his cap off and rubs his eyes. “Right. And you didn't think about bringing this up before?”

The ship’s horn echoes in the harbour, signalling their departure. 

“Eh. The timing never felt right.”

Jihoon still has his eyes closed in pain when Wonwoo jogs into view with a big grin on his face and a ziplock bag in each hand. He’s already changed into his allocated Hawaiian shirt. He knows what’s up.

“Hey, I got some of those bands for your wrists and a few tablets, if you need them.” Wonwoo hands Soonyoung a bag and then opens his own with a grin. 

Soonyoung hands it back. “No. I don’t want to look like a loser.”

“Too late,” Jihoon mutters. 

“Catch me, I’m swooning,” Soonyoung leans all his body weight against Jihoon’s shoulder and stumbles when Jihoon takes a step to the side. “Hey. Be nice to me. It’s my birthday cruise, after all.”

Jihoon laughs. “Why the hell did you organise this if you get seasick? We could have done literally anything else.”

Soonyoung puffs his chest out. “There is nothing the tiger cannot overcome.”

*

Soonyoung gags loudly into the toilet bowl. It feels like an evil spirit is trying to leave his body through his mouth. 

Chan rubs his back in steady circles. “Do you need anything?” he asks worriedly.

“Yes. No. Don’t look at me,” Soonyoung groans. The boat gives a noticeable lurch and he gags loudly. The sound echoes despite the fact that everything seems to be made of plastic like some 1950s hellscape.

“I can’t be here, I have a really sensitive gag reflex,” says Wonwoo, one foot out the door. 

“I can,” Jun says, standing by the sink and leisurely eating a packet of chips. 

“Thanks man,” Soonyoung says weakly.

“No worries,” Jun says. He disappears from view. “Wow, your bed is more comfortable than mine. Is it cool if I take a nap?”

Soonyoung throws up again.

*

Soonyoung organised this trip because he wanted the drinks package and an excuse to wear clashing colours and Hawaiian shirts for an entire week. If he has to throw up a little to make it happen? So be it.

Wonwoo is the only one who knew about his seasickness because when they were eleven their families went on a whale watching cruise together and Soonyoung spent the entire thing flat on his back and green in the face. They had been friends for a month. It’s a miracle Wonwoo stuck around.

Usually the feeling of turning inside out only lasts for the first few hours, anyway, and then he’s good to go, so Soonyoung feels confident enough to go to the safety briefing. He tells Chan this and Chan crosses his arms. 

“No, hyung, I think you need to lie down.”

“I can lie down at the safety briefing. I need to know what to do if we hit an iceberg.”

Vernon laughs. “I think we’re in the wrong ocean.”

“Not an ocean!” Wonwoo calls from the corridor. 

“We’re going to be late,” Jihoon huffs. The PA system echoes with another message in Chinese and everyone looks to Jun who looks up from where he’s playing a game on his phone. 

He clears his throat and affects the same tone as the announcer. “Please make your way to the Royal Theatre. Access is via Deck Four and Five. The safety briefing will commence shortly.”

Wonwoo takes off at a sprint.

*

Everything’s going fine until Soonyoung gets out of the elevator. “Nine one one,” he says, gripping the railing.

“What’s your emergency?” Vernon responds.

“It’s happening again. Oh god.” Soonyoung sways a little on the spot and a family walking past looks at him, concerned. He waves at them with a cheerful smile, but as soon as they’re gone he bends over with a groan.

“Dude, you need to get some fresh air,” says Vernon. “I’m sure it’s fine if you skip the briefing. I can take notes or film it.”

Soonyoung doesn’t want to get in trouble or like, kicked off of the ship for disobeying direct orders, but he knows that if he sits down in that theatre he _will_ empty his guts into his lap.

“Okay,” he concedes, straightening up. “I’ll meet you back at the rooms.”

“Alright man, good luck.” Vernon salutes him and joins the small crowd flowing down the corridor to the doors of the theatre. Honestly, Soonyoung was hoping Vernon would volunteer to stay with him, but the others went ahead and the phone reception is a joke already, so Soonyoung puts his big boy shoes on and follows the signs to the nearest balcony.

The fresh air helps immediately. He looks left and right along the side of the ship in case there’s a staff member waiting to tell him off for being out here, but there’s nobody. He leans his elbows against the bannister and closes his eyes, letting the seasalt breeze push through his hair and cool his flushed cheeks. 

He should have just taken one of Wonwoo’s wristbands. He’s not sure who he’s trying to impress, here. Everyone in their friend group has seen him at his lowest points, seen him do idiotic and embarrassing things; now they expect it from him. It’s his brand in the group. It used to hurt a little bit, but now when Jihoon scoffs at him and calls him crazy he embraces it instead of nursing it like a wound like he did when they were younger. 

More than anything he wants his friends to enjoy this week. He organised this, begged them all to come, so it sort of feels like his responsibility to make sure they have fun. 

“Ah Kwon Soonyoung,” he says, looking out at the water, the shrinking edges of Shanghai. His pep talk is cut off by another bout of nausea and he groans, dropping into a crouch. 

He doesn’t know how long he spends like that—back against the railing and head between his knees, suffering—but somewhere in the haze he hears a voice and footsteps approaching. Shit. He’s getting in trouble. He wants to lift his head but it feels like the wrong decision, so he just keeps his eyes down as someone crouches down next to him. 

They say something in Chinese but Soonyoung doesn’t really understand. “Sorry,” he says. “Sorry. Im not…”

“Oh! Are you Korean?” says the voice, in Korean this time, and it’s surprising enough that Soonyoung does look up. His stomach roils at the sudden movement but shit, it’s worth it. 

The first thing he sees is arms. Toned forearms and biceps and beautiful hands, one of which is reached out towards him—a hideous waterproof watch around the wrist. Everything else in Soonyoung’s brain whites out. The tunnel vision could be blamed on the seasickness but Soonyoung is also extremely gay and predictable, so.

“Hey, are you okay?” 

Right. Soonyoung is still staring at his arms. He looks up in an attempt to be normal but all hope dies when he sees his face—the burnt gold of his hair and his sloping eyebrows and his… neck? What the fuck? Is that a Thing? Soonyoung’s eyes dart down to his throat and back to his eyes and his stomach swoops in a good way this time and wow, guess it’s a Thing. 

He’s obviously a staff member—judging by the ugly blue polo shirt that he’s pulling off like it’s Chanel—and he’s still looking at Soonyoung with a concerned frown. 

Soonyoung smiles. “I’m okay. Please don’t throw me off the ship.”

The guy laughs, showing off some pointy teeth. “What? I’m not going to do that.”

“Oh thank god,” Soonyoung wipes his clammy forehead. “I can’t swim.”

“Really?!”

“No it’s—I was kidding. Sorry, I’m stressed. It’s like a reflex. Ha ha. Don’t tell anyone I skipped the safety briefing.”

The guy’s face clears. “Oh, right! Don’t worry about it. You can read the pamphlet in your room. They usually leave it by the beds or on the back of your door. Anway, if anything happens there are big loud announcements and people show you where to go. You’ll be fine.”

“That’s good—”

“And it’s okay if you can’t swim, by the way, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Lots of people can’t. That’s why we have lifeguards and pools onboard. Everyone gets to have fun, y’know? We’re all on holiday! No need to be stressed. This whole ship is a stress-free zone.” He’s using his hands to gesture so wildly that he almost hits Soonyoung’s knee. It’s incredibly endearing. “So, are you alright?” he continues. “Are you sick? Do you need to see a doctor?”

“Um,” Soonyoung croaks. He feels like he’s staring at the sun. 

“Ah, sorry! I know I talk too much. Just nice to see someone my age. That speaks Korean. My Chinese is getting better but it’s still really difficult and English is a nightmare.” He laughs a bit nervously and pushes his hair back only for it to fall back around his forehead. “I’m Mingyu by the way. Is this your first time on a cruise?”

“I’m Soonyoung. And yeah, I’m a cruise virgin!” Soonyoung closes his eyes in pain and wishes for death, but Mingyu just laughs again, breathy and cute.

“Well. I hope we can make your first time memorable,” he says, and _winks._ Soonyoung’s horny barometer goes beserk. “I have to get back to the pools before everyone comes out, but are you sure you’re okay? Do you need me to find your friends?”

Soonyoung is in love. A few errant synapses fire off and connect _Mingyu_ and _lifeguard_ and _pool_ but the thought instantly self destructs. “Thanks, but it’s alright. I might just go back to my room.”

Mingyu stands up and holds a hand out to help Soonyoung to his feet. His hand is warm and strong and Soonyoung wonders how long he can hold on before it gets creepy. Mingyu pulls back pretty quickly, but he’s smiling. It’s probably a professional thing. Or he’s straight. Ugh.

“You should come to the pool sometime!” says Mingyu, walking backwards. “Deck fourteen, near the slides. Bring your friends.”

“Sure,” Soonyoung calls over the sound of the engine. Mingyu gives him a happy thumbs up before disappearing inside. Soonyoung takes out his phone and opens the voice notes app. “Day one. This was the best decision of my adult life. I’ve thrown up five times, but it was worth it because I just met the most beautiful man on this ship. Is it gay to be concerned for a stranger’s health and wellbeing? I’ll ask the boys. And I’ll check in with an update tomorrow. I love you. Spirit of the tiger!” He growls and ends the recording.

Soonyoung looks out at the horizon and takes a big breath in. “Fuck yeah,” he says, and goes back inside. 

*

Chan is already in the room when he gets back, because Soonyoung got lost and forgot what level their room was on and ended up at the casino and then what looked like a daycare centre. 

A stupidly beautiful staff member with shoulder-length hair saw him zoning out by the map and offered him directions. Soonyoung thanked him profusely and went to leave but was stopped by another cute boy with a soft voice and pointy ears who gave him completely different directions and a warning to never listen to the first man ever again. 

The whole interaction triggered the second horny crisis of the afternoon and, admittedly, Soonyoung got lost again, but he made it to his room eventually.

“Oh Lee Chan, we’re really in it now,” he says, flopping onto his bed and staring at the ceiling.

Chan hums and continues to unpack his bag. “What does that mean?”

Soonyoung sits up. “It means God is real and the staff on this boat are super hot.”

Chan laughs, big and bright, head tossed back. “Hyung, already?”

“Already what? I’m allowed to have eyes. Hey, stop laughing!” Soonyoung throws a pillow at Chan and starts laughing too because it’s infectious and he’s just happy to be here. 

Someone knocks on the door and Chan gets up to let them in. 

“Hey,” says Wonwoo, “feeling better?”

“He’s already found a boyfriend,” Chan giggles, abandoning his unpacking in favour of lying next to Soonyoung and tucking his head on his shoulder. Soonyoung pulls Chan on top of him using his arms and legs and gets him in a headlock. Wonwoo sits on Chan’s bed and patiently waits for them to stop.

“Did you really?” he asks. “It’s been two hours.”

“No. I wish,” sighs Soonyoung. “But a really hot guy came to check on me when I was outside and he’s Korean and he works here and I’m ninety-percent sure he’s a lifeguard and also the man I am meant to spend the rest of my life with.”

“Wow, a lifeguard? Nice,” Chan holds a hand up between them and they high five.

“I know. He told me to come to the pool. Is that a euphemism for sex?”

Wonwoo’s mouth flattens into a line. “Pretty sure it means ‘come to the pool’.”

Soonyoung pouts.

Chan shakes him with a big smile. “He sounds nice! Let’s go to the pool! I want to meet him.”

“Meet who?” Jun says, waltzing in through the open door with his sunglasses on and a juicebox in his hand. 

“Soonyoungie’s boyfriend,” Wonwoo says.

“Nice,” Jun says, nodding. “I just wanna point out that it’s past six o’clock and nobody has a drink in their hands except for me.”

“Yeah, apple juice,” Soonyoung says, rolling his eyes.

“That’s what I want you to think,” Jun says, sucking on the straw loud enough for Soonyoung to hear from the other side of the room. He makes a face like he’s just eaten a lemon. That is to say, he barely reacts. So Soonyoung would believe that it actually was juice, except Wonwoo snatches it to take a sip and splutters so hard he bends over.

“Is that _pure_ _vodka?_ ” he chokes.

Jun beams and takes another happy sip. “Get your shirts on, boys. We’re going up.”

Chan and Soonyoung cheer and Wonwoo echoes it on the tail end of another cough.

*

The weather is clear but the air is humid and Soonyoung is extremely aware of how his shirt is sticking to his shoulders as they make their way up to the pool. He catches his reflection in the elevator mirrors and starts to second guess the matching shirts, but the doubt only lasts a few seconds because they’re on a cruise and if you don’t have matching shirts with your bros on a cruise, then you’re doing it wrong. 

“Is anyone else hungry?” asks Vernon as they walk through the excited crowds of people, all buzzing like bees to find something to do on the first evening. There’s a healthy balance of kids and old people and groups of friends like theirs. Someone high fives Jun when they walk past because they’re wearing the same shirt. Soonyoung is positively vibrating with energy.

“I could eat,” Jihoon says thoughtfully. “I think I saw a food place on the deck. Wanna check it out?” 

“Yes please,” Vernon says. They break off in the opposite direction once they’re outside and Soonyoung waves like he’s sending his kids off to college.

“I’ll get you a cocktail, Jihoonie!”

“Good!” Jihoon yells back, already out of sight. 

“They grow up so fast,” Jun says, wiping away a real tear. He claps. “Drinks?”

There are several bars scattered around the massive deck. Soonyoung doesn’t know where to look. There’s slides and pools and a wave machine and bright umbrellas and multiple levels of chairs, most of which have already been claimed by towels or belongings despite the sun setting gracefully around them. Staff are walking around with drinks and snacks and before Jun can take another step, someone in a blue polo approaches them. 

He speaks with Jun in Chinese before scanning his room card with a sunny smile and walking back to one of the bars.

“What just happened?” Chan asks.

“He’s getting us a round shots,” says Jun. “We paid way too much for that drinks package so I am going to milk it dry.”

Wonwoo grimaces. “Don’t put those words together ever again.”

“I want to swim, though,” Chan says earnestly. 

“Go on, son,” Soonyoung says, patting his butt. “You can come and find us when you’re done.”

Chan slaps his hand away with a pout. “No, I’ll drink,” he says, tipping his chin up. He’s been old enough to go out with them for a few years, now, but sometimes it feels like he’s still growing out of the phase where he feels the need to overcompensate for being the youngest. Vernon isn’t even much older than Chan but things like that never seem to bother him. Nothing does, really. Soonyoung loves it. Wishes he could be more like that.

“Excellent decision!” Jun cheers. 

He leads the way to a free table and the tray of shots follows within moments. It’s disgusting—tequila and too much salt because Soonyoung is a terrible judge of these things and always puts too much—but it adds to the vibes and it’s Soonyoung’s birthday in two days so he refuses to have anything but an excellent time. 

They settle in, order more drinks, and Soonyoung starts looking around for Mingyu. He can see two lifeguards walking around the pool closest to them, signalled by their red shorts and white polos with medical crosses on the backs, but he doesn’t recognise either of them. It’s a bit hard to see from this distance, but Soonyoung’s sixth sense (being gay) tells him that they’re also super hot. Maybe it’s all the lifesaving they have to do, but they both have incredible arms, biceps straining against the sleeves.

Wonwoo follows his line of sight. “Oh, shit, is that him?” he asks, pointing at the one with black hair.

“No, I don’t know those guys. But damn. I could.”

Chan turns around and cranes his neck until he sees the lifeguards, now sitting side by side at the far end of the pool. “Wow, hyung, you were right.”

“About?” Jihoon asks around a mouthful of fries.

“There’s a lot of hot guys working here,” Chan says.

“Oh, these two know all about that, don’t you?” Wonwoo grins at Jihoon and Vernon like a Cheshire Cat and they both take a strong interest in their food.

Soonyoung shrieks. “What am I missing? What happened? You have to tell me.”

“Calm down,” Jihoon rips Soonyoung’s hands off his cheeks. He takes a massive sip of his margerita and hisses. Then, resigned: “There were two guys our age hosting the safety briefing like it was an entertainment show. It was an absolute mess but they were cute. I guess. Whatever.”

“One of them made a joke about Vernon’s t-shirt and he got all shy,” Chan adds, beaming. 

Jun affects an implaceable accent. “THAT’S BRIGHTER THAN THE LIFEJACKET!” he cries. “WON’T GET LOST AT SEA WEARING THAT! IT’S THE BRIGHTEST THING I’VE EVER SEEN!”

Vernon puts one hand over his eyes and smiles, all wide and embarrassed, and Soonyoung laughs so hard he almost falls off the stool. 

“What so—so you’re in love with him now?” Soonyoung hiccups.

“No! Of course not!” whines Vernon.

There are several mocking echoes of “Of course not!” because Vernon is arguably worse than Soonyoung when it comes to imprinting onto cute boys. Except Vernon has perhaps a little more finesse and subtlety, whereas Soonyoung tends to run headfirst into everything without waiting to consider where or not it’s a good idea. As far as techniques go, it’s successful enough. Soonyoung is lucky he’s cute but he also knows how to work what he has, and what he has is an excellent body and a sexy brain and a healthy ego. He’s also got the thickest skin out of all of them besides Jun. Arguably, it’s what helps him survive most of the situations he gets himself into. 

Like this one:

He swirls his cocktail like it’s wine. “If I didn’t know any better I’d think I landed us on a gay cruise. Happy birthday to me,” he says, loudly, because he’s already tipsy and his brain to mouth filter is logging off more and more with every sip he takes.

“Soonyoung-ssi?”

Mingyu appears at their table and Soonyoung chokes on his drink. Jihoon throws his head back with a resounding cackle and everyone else at the table joins in because they’ve never supported Soonyoung a day in their lives. 

“Hi,” Soonyoung says weakly. Mingyu is looking a little shyly around the table, but when his eyes meet Soonyoung’s his smile grows in confidence. He’s wearing the lifeguard polo and a whistle around his neck. The white material contrasts beautifully with the tone of his skin and his hair is a gorgeous, windswept mess. Soonyoung takes another sip of his drink for strength. 

“Are these your friends?” asks Mingyu.

“Yes,” says Jun, holding a hand out. “Wen Junhui.”

“Kim Mingyu,” Mingyu bows slightly. They go around the table and Mingyu’s smile grows. Chan’s mouth is hanging open a little and Wonwoo reaches over the table to snap it shut. 

“It’s Soonyoungie’s birthday in two days,” Jun says. 

“Ah yeah, I—I heard,” Mingyu says, giggling. Soonyoung makes wide eyes at the tabletop like it will turn into a human and teach him how to shut the fuck up. “Do you have any plans?”

“Apart from getting _shwasted_ and booking a karaoke room?” Vernon asks. “Not really.”

“We’ll be doing something fun and cool,” Soonyoung says. 

“I don’t doubt it,” Mingyu grins. One of the other lifeguards blows his whistle and calls Mingyu’s name. Mingyu turns to hold a hand up to show that he heard. Soonyoung looks around his shoulder and sees the blond one looking at their table with suspicious eyes and a smirky mouth. 

“Duty calls?” Soonyoung asks.

“Yeah, I think it’s Shua-hyung’s turn to go on break. See you around? We’ll be on this deck for most of the trip.”

“Okay,” Soonyoung says, a little dazed.

“Cool.” Mingyu turns to the rest of the table. “Nice to meet you guys. Have a good night!”

The second he’s out of earshot, everyone turns to look at Soonyoung. Soonyoung steeples his fingers together and presses his lips against them. “Alright boys. Thoughts?”

It’s quiet for a few moments before Jihoon speaks. “He’s gay. If I’m wrong, I’ll eat Wonwoo’s sandals.”

“Hey, no, they’re my orthopaedic ones,” Wonwoo frowns. 

“It’s a figure of speech.”

“I know,” Wonwoo says defensively. 

Soonyoung is too busy calculating the rate and trajectory of his arrival to Bone Town with Kim Mingyu to pay any attention to their bickering. “So what you’re saying is… I have a chance.”

“My friend,” Jun raises his drink—when did they get another round?—with a smile, “You’re already in. All you gotta do is wait.”

Soonyoung grins, smug. He puffs his chest and holds up his drink, too. “Spirit of the tiger.”

Everyone echoes the sentiment with varying levels of resignation, and they down their drinks. Soonyoung gets his phone out and forces them to take a group photo. It’s blurry and the lighting is imperfect, but he saves it as his lockscreen anyway.


	2. Get your towels ready

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mingyu time!!!!!!!!!

Mingyu wakes up ten seconds before his alarm. He knows this because he wakes up, picks his head off the pillow, looks at the clock, groans, and then his phone starts playing the marimba.

He stares at the ceiling until Joshua calls out from the bathroom for him to turn it off. 

“Sorry hyung,” Mingyu says, a yawn cracking through the middle of his sentence. He’d usually sleep in until it’s almost too late to get breakfast and then make his way up to the pools, but it’s their first full day at sea and that means… well. All hands on deck. 

“C’mon, get up, Mingyu-yah.” Joshua comes out smelling like sunscreen and he grabs his lanyard, whistle and ballcap. “Breakfast has already started and we gotta be upstairs for safety training in an hour.”

Mingyu whines and kicks his feet under the covers. “But I know how to do everything!” It’s his eighth voyage on this ship, and Joshua’s tenth, yet management makes them go through this every time. 

Joshua smiles indulgently. “Every ship and every trip is unique,” he recites in English. 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Mingyu says, swinging his legs off the edge of the bed. “Give me five minutes.”

“I’ll just meet you there. Want me to save you some of the good yoghurt?”

“No, I’m off dairy,” Mingyu says, stripping carelessly on his way to their tiny bathroom. Joshua politely averts his eyes even though it’s nothing he hasn’t seen before. Multiple times. Mingyu leans around the doorframe from inside the bathroom. “But hyung… can you save me a seat?”

Joshua sighs. “Yes, Mingyu.”

Mingyu beams and blows him a kiss. He hears a wave of noise through the bathroom door when Joshua leaves—familiar, excited voices and footsteps—but it’s muffled again by the door clicking shut and the shower kicking into gear.

*

The staff cafeteria is packed, everyone rushing to get ready for the first morning. It’s just past sunrise and Mingyu counts nine yawns and stifles down three himself as he grabs a tray and walks around collecting a variety of foods and a huge glass of orange juice. He finds his friends by the hot drinks station. As always, he hears them before he sees them.

“You’re not putting enough emotion into it,” Jeonghan is saying.

“He’s announcing the weather!” Seungcheol laughs.

“No, no, he’s right,” Seungkwan says, “always room to go bigger.”

“Yah, see? I’m _right_.” Jeonghan looks up from terrorising his friends and his eyes find Mingyu. He grins and throws his arms up. “Kim Mingyu!”

“Kim Mingyu!” Seungcheol echoes, and the call bounces around the table like a beach ball. Mingyu bows like it’s a special talent to just exist in the mornings, which, sometimes it feels like it is. He takes the seat between Joshua and Minghao, who instantly reaches a hand up to fix Mingyu’s hair with a gentle expression.

“If I choke on my breakfast will you rescuscitate me?” Jeonghan asks, batting his eyelashes.

“No.”

Jeonghan moans obscenely and Joshua slaps a palm over his mouth to muffle the sound.

“I’ll save you hyung, don’t worry,” says Seokmin.

“Save him later,” Seungkwan says, clicking his fingers. “We have five minutes to get this down. I need you to focus.”

They start to read through their morning announcement, complete with facial expressions and coordinated gestures despite the fact that nobody will be able to see them while they read it out. Jeonghan starts heckling them “Because the industry is ruthless” and Joshua points out that it’s just a radio broadcast and promptly receives an orange peel to the face. 

Mingyu eats his food, only half listening. Minghao is still fussing with his hair and shirt and Mingyu looks over at him with a smile. “Hello,” he says.

He spent the two weeks between trips with Minghao in Shanghai, but they don’t get sick of each other much anymore.None of them do. It’s good to have such good friends on a job like this.

“Hello,” says Minghao, just as quiet. “Are you wearing that face cream I got you?” Mingyu nods. “Good.” He finishes nudging at Mingyu’s fringe and leaves his palm resting gently on the nape of Mingyu’s neck while he reads the news on his phone.

“So, did you have a good first night, Mingyu-yah?” Seungcheol asks, pushing a bowl of fruit across the table and staring at Mingyu with a suspicious grin as he spears a piece of pineapple.

“Yes, I heard you made some friends,” Seungkwan says to his notes, pretending to be far less interested in the gossip than Mingyu knows he is.

“Um,” Mingyu says. 

Seungcheol is wriggling in his seat. “He was cute!” he bursts, grinning wide. “I saw him. And his friends looked nice, too.”

Mingyu can feel his ears going pink. Minghao taps one of them with a giggle. “Traitor,” Mingyu hisses.

“Friends?” Seokmin says, eyes wide like a puppy. 

“Yeah, actually, I need new ones,” Mingyu says through a mouthful of fruit. “Know anyone?”

Seungkwan shrieks, “Oh my god, you’re spitting everywhere! Gross!”

Mingyu opens his mouth to show off the chewed up mess inside. 

“Don’t do that, Mingyu-yah,” Seungcheol says.

“Sorry.”

“Anyway, there’s a no relationship policy for a reason,” Seungkwan says, shuffling his papers self-righteously and pointing at everyone as though there hasn’t been at least six instances of inter-group hookups in the past two months alone. “Remember what happened to Wong Yukhei? That’ll follow him for the rest of his life.”

“They let him go because the moms liked him a little too much,” says Joshua. “I think he’s doing just fine.”

“Couldn’t be me,” sniffs Seungkwan. 

“Yeah, no shit,” Jeonghan laughs. “Don’t act so high and mighty Boo Seungkwan, we all witnessed that disgusting attempt at public flirting at the briefing yesterday.”

Seungkwan stands up so fast his chair screeches. “Seokmin, time to go.”

“Aw, but I haven’t finished my omelette—”

“Now! Get up!”

Seokmin gives his eggs a mournful look before pushing the plate over to Joshua and following Seungkwan out of the cafeteria. Without them the table folds into easy silence, and Jeonghan takes his first nap of the day on Seungcheol’s shoulder. The gossip is forgotten just as quickly as it was brought up. Sometimes the speed at which his friends burn through conversation topics gives Mingyu a headache, but he’s grateful for it this time.

“I have a break at eleven,” says Minghao as they put their trays away. “I’ll come up and say hi?”

Mingyu stacks his plates and cutlery. “You just want to scope out the guy I met.”

“Oh, so he’s going to be at the pool? You’re confident.”

“Hopeful,” Mingyu corrects. He feels a bit pathetic for thinking about Soonyoung so much, but meeting him was such a bright way to start the trip, even if the poor guy looked like he was on the verge of death. 

Mingyu believes in the timing of things. He wants to see what could happen. 

*

Minghao pulls his sunglasses to the end of his nose and looks over the top of them. “That’s him?”

Mingyu sighs. “Yeah.”

They’re standing under the lifeguard umbrella, looking over the late-morning chaos of the pool at Soonyoung and his friends. The tall one—Jun?—is walking around like he’s a chicken and Soonyoung is pretending to scatter food on the ground in front of him while one of the shorter boys rolls around on his beach chair, clutching his stomach as he laughs. The sound carries all the way over to them. 

The short one with blond hair is visibly pretending he doesn’t know them. 

Minghao watches them for another excruciating minute before he pushes his glasses back up and hums. 

“What,” Mingyu whines.

“I think I met him yesterday, actually.”

“What? When?”

Minghao leans away from Mingyu’s enthusiasm. “He got lost. Turned up at the daycare. Jeonghan tried to send him to the engine room.”

“Asshole,” Mingyu laughs.

Minghao laughs and puts a hand on Mingyu’s arm. “He seems nice. Don’t stare at him so much you forget to do your job, though.”

“You have so much faith in me it’s disgusting.”

“Love you too,” Minghao says, kissing his fingertips and tapping them under Mingyu’s chin. 

Mingyu watches him walk off and his eyes drift, inevitably, naturally, to Soonyoung. Who is already looking at him. Mingyu grins and waves, and Soonyoung slowly, woodenly, holds up a hand in return, smile building like a tide until his eyes disappear into it. Mingyu would be happy to stand and wave at him for another few minutes but a kid starts loudly coughing and spluttering in the deep end. Mingyu takes his hat and shirt off in one movement before diving in. 

“Hey buddy, hey, it’s fine,” Mingyu chants as the young boy starts clinging blindly for his shoulders, arms wrapping around Mingyu’s neck and clinging like an octopus. He can’t be older than six, all bony arms and big eyes, and he’s not responding to any language Mingyu speaks, so he just tries to sound as calming as possible as he wades over to the shallow end and up the steps. There’s a grandma waiting for them with wide eyes and she pulls the boy off Mingyu and bows profusely, patting Mingyu’s elbow. 

“It’s okay,” he tries in Chinese, “Just tell him to stay in the other pool.” She nods like she understands and hustles the kid over to the rest of their family. 

“Nice save,” Seungcheol says, patting him on the back.

“This isn’t a soccer game,” Mingyu laughs, pushing his chlorinated hair out of his eyes and shaking his head a little.

“No, but we do have an audience,” Seungcheol laughs, tilting his head.

Mingyu turns to find Soonyoung and all of his friends staring at them. Soonyoung has a water bottle in his hand and a wet patch on the front of his t-shirt. Mingyu pushes his shoulders back and runs his hand through his hair again, slow and purposeful. Soonyoung’s eyes are all over him like the sun. He loves it.

Before he can pull out the double flex, Seungcheol smacks him in the stomach and Mingyu bends over with an _oof_. “Ow! Cockblock!” he pouts.

“Narcissist!” Seungcheol calls, breaking the no running rule to escape Mingyu’s retaliation.

*

Mingyu wants to go over and talk to Soonyoung but people keep inhaling pool water and generally being stupid, so he reluctantly does his job for a few hours instead of pursuing the cute boy with blond hair and a tiger-stripe tote bag and matching swim shorts. 

Eventually, they must get bored of being by the pool because Mingyu looks over to the beach chairs for the hundredth time only to find an old couple and a group of young women occupying them instead. He tries not to feel too put out. Soonyoung is on holiday and this ship has an overwhelming variety of activities for the guests to choose from—he’s not going to spend ten hours by the pool like Mingyu. 

It’s almost the end of their shift, anyway; Seungcheol volunteered to stick around for the evening changeover so Mingyu gathers his things and wanders over to Joshua’s side of the pool to save him from being flirted with by a middle-aged blond woman in a caftan.

“Oh, really?” Joshua is saying in polite English (though his English always sounds polite). “That sounds nice.”

“Yes, the suites are so beautiful. So spacious,” the woman is saying. “The bed is like a cloud.”

Mingyu masks a snort with a cough. Joshua looks at him with pleading eyes. 

“How long do they have you working, honey?” the woman persists. “It must be exhausting, being in the sun all day.”

Damn, she is not giving up. Mingyu takes pity on Joshua and steps up beside him, a hand on his shoulder over his polo. “Excuse me, ma’am,” he says sweetly to the woman. He switches to Korean. “It’s almost six o’clock. Cheol-hyung is staying for handover.”

Joshua does a shitty job of keeping the relief off his face. “Well, we have to go now,” he tells the woman. “Enjoy your evening.” 

She opens her mouth to say something else—probably her room number—but Joshua flees like it’s a crime scene. Mingyu offers the woman a sunny smile and follows before she can sink her manicured nails into him, too.

*

Mingyu makes the executive decision to find Soonyoung’s room after he’s had a shower and changed into a fitting t-shirt, linen pants and sandals. He’s not doing it to be creepy. He’s taking initiative, following his heart (and his dick), and being romantic! It’s the Kim Mingyu trifecta and it never fails.

It takes half an hour of pleading and blatant bribery to wear Minghao down enough to tell him which level Soonyoung said he was staying on when he asked Minghao for directions. Seokmin comes into the room halfway through and refuses to be left out. Mingyu is thankful because it’ll look less suspicious if he’s caught walking around the guest area of the ship with another staff member.

They put their lanyards on and Seokmin gives Mingyu a pep talk while he massages his shoulders.

“You’re hot,” he says, meeting Mingyu’s eyes in the mirror.

“I’m hot,” Mingyu repeats.

“You’re a juicy piece of meat, but you’re also more than that.”

“I’m juicy.”

“You are Kim Mingyu.”

“I am Kim Mingyu.”

“Can you two leave already, a baby threw up on me today and I need to take a shower,” Minghao says. He flicks them both with his towel, moving so fast that Mingyu doesn’t realise until he hears the sharp _crack_ and feels a sting in his thigh. 

Seokmin shrieks and tumbles out into the corridor, Mingyu close behind him. 

“Keep it discreet,” Minghao says, and shuts the door in their faces.

*

Seokmin rolls out of the elevator with his fingers pressed together like a gun. 

He immediately knocks into a guest, who stumbles back and lets out a tiny, _oh?_ before Seokmin scrambles to his feet and dips into a 90 degree bow. 

“I’m so sorry!” he says. Mingyu would be dying laughing if he didn’t immediately recognise the guy. 

“Oh, hey,” he says, and waves despite being two feet away. That was easy. 

“Hey. Mingyu, right?”

Seokmin stands up like he’s been electrocuted. “You’re Soonyoung?” he asks. So much for discretion.

The other guy scrunches up his face. “No. I’m Jihoon.” He sighs. “His friend.”

“I remember!” says Mingyu, bouncing on his toes. “So. Um…”

“He’s at the arcade,” Jihoon says, smirking.

“Oh,” Mingyu deflates. 

Seokmin abandons Mingyu without a hint of remorse. He holds out a hand to Jihoon. “I’m Lee Seokmin. I work here, too.”

“I know,” says Jihoon. “I mean. I was at the safety briefing.”

“Wow, cool! Thanks for coming.”

Jihoon shifts his weight. “Well it was mandatory, so…” 

“Right, of course,” Seokmin laughs. Mingyu looks between them, their averted eyes and nervous hands, and grins. 

“Well, I’m going to head up to the arcade for a bit. For no reason. What are you up to Jihoon-ssi?”

Jihoon’s mouth turns thoughtful. “Just going to walk around the deck for a while.”

“Wow, that’s crazy, Seokmin _loves_ walking,” Mingyu sings, pushing Seokmin towards him and backing into the elevator, repeatedly slamming the button for level ten. “Have fun!” 

The doors close on Seokmin’s panicked face and Mingyu leans back against the mirrored elevator wall with a satisfied sigh. He looks at his endless reflections and winks.

* 

Mingyu usually avoids the arcade because the lights give him a headache and the carpets always smell concerning, but this time he’s on a mission. He sweet talks the girls working at the counter into giving him some free tokens, and then he sets off into the maze of machines.

It takes a few minutes of dodging children but he finally finds Soonyoung and his friends playing Dance Dance Revolution. 

Soonyoung has a death grip on the railings and his feet are moving so fast it makes Mingyu dizzy. It looks like his friend Chan is versing him, and they’re neck and neck, both hitting each beat perfectly. 

“Finish him!” yells Jun.

“Wrong game,” the one in glasses—Wonwoo—says. 

Chan shrieks when his heel slips on a particularly difficult move, and Soonyoung cheers, and the song ends a few seconds later. Soonyoung got the better score and he starts popping and locking so violently that the machine shakes. 

“Yo, Mingyu!” calls Vernon. His shirt is so bright it could probably power a small village. Soonyoung turns around and screams.

Mingyu waves with both hands, trying to stifle his laughter. Soonyoung recovers well, pushing his hair back and lounging against the railings of the game. “Did you see that win?”

“Yeah. Congratulations!” says Mingyu.

“He cheated,” Chan cuts in, and Soonyoung shoves at his face without looking.

“Ah, I’m just naturally gifted,” Soonyoung says smugly, stroking his jaw and looking off into the distance. It’s so over-the-top, bleeding more theatrics than Seungkwan’s morning greeting, but Mingyu loves it.

He holds up his tokens. “Can I interest you in a race?”

Jun steps forward. “Yes! I love cars!”

“Not you,” Wonwoo tugs him back by the neck of his shirt. Mingyu wonders if Jun brought several identical Hawaiian shirts or he just hasn’t taken this one off since they arrived.

Soonyoung steps down from the DDR platform like a teenager walking down the stairs in her prom dress. He approaches Mingyu with deliberate steps. He gets close enough that Mingyu can see the sunburn on his nose and tilts his head back, eyes heavy. Mingyu sways forward without realising.

“I don’t know how to drive,” Soonyoung whispers. 

*

They choose a racing game anyway. Soonyoung ends up winning because Mingyu is laughing too hard at Soonyoung’s screen to pay attention to his own; on the final lap Soonyoung hits a ramp at a ridiculous angle and his car goes flying so high and so far that they’re both crying with laughter by the time it lands. 

The ‘6th place’ banner flashes on Soonyoung’s screen and he screams, throwing his hands up. Mingyu weakly pushes his own car across the finish line before sagging against the plastic seat with tears in his eyes.

“Oh my god,” he wheezes.

“I won? Holy shit,” Soonyoung cackles, bouncing excitedly. “I won!”

“Yeah,” Mingyu wipes his eyes. “You did. Oh my god,” he repeats. “Come on, let’s go to the skee ball.”

They pass Soonyoung’s friends at the air hockey table and Soonyoung waves his tickets like a flag. “I won!”

“Shut up, I’m concentrating!” Wonwoo yells. He surges forward only for the puck to ricochet back into the very goal he was trying to defend. Vernon and Chan jump into each other’s arms and Jun sinks into a crouch and punches the carpet with a wail.

Soonyoung laughs weakly. “Ah. They can be a bit intense.” He looks sideways at Mingyu, shoulders bunched up like he’s bracing himself for something.

Mingyu thinks of the time Seungkwan gave Jeonghan a black eye when they were playing beach volleyball last summer and shrugs. “I think they’re cool.”

Soonyoung’s shoulders relax and he grins, his eyes pushed into crescents and his teeth poking out. “Yeah,” he says softly. “They are.”

The line for skee ball is too long so they settle in front of one of the basketball machines instead.

“So,” Mingyu says, pushing in the tokens. “How’s your first cruise so far?”

“Oh, you know,” Soonyoung says, shrugging. “It’s lit.”

Mingyu exhales a laugh. “A raving review.” He grabs one of the basketballs and passes it to Soonyoung, purposefully brushing their fingers against each other. Erotic Sports. Jeonghan will be so proud of him.

“I’m a wordsmith, what can I say.” Soonyoung tosses the ball with a limp wrist and misses spectacularly. 

“Yeah?” Mingyu grins. “What do you do? For work, I mean.”

“A few things. I dabble. You know how it is. Chan and I have been at a dance studio for a year, now, though, which is fun.”

“Woah, really?” Mingyu asks, stepping forward to take his turn. “That explains how good you guys are at DDR.” Soonyoung smiles and leans against the machine, sharp eyes trained on Mingyu as he frantically picks up and throws the basketballs. 

He’s very distracting. Even in a plain t-shirt and shorts and the ugly cruise lanyard wrapped around his waist like a belt, Mingyu can’t help but look at him. Something about the way he holds himself. Like he knows what he’s doing. Even in the moments where the lines of his face go soft and he giggles cutely, there’s something sharp about him. It feels like confidence, like a raw sort of self assurance that looks effortless, but which Mingyu knows from experience takes a lot of work.

It’s sexy. It’s making Mingyu a bit dizzy.

“What about you?” Soonyoung asks, stepping forward again. He still misses most of his shots, but neither of them care anymore. They’re close enough that their arms brush. “How long have you been doing this?”

“Two years,” says Mingyu. “It started out as a joke in our friend group like, hey, what if we all applied to work on a cruise ship, then we’d be on holiday while we’re working! So we got drunk and applied for a bunch of different positions and forgot about it. Then a month later we all ended up getting hired. It’s hard sometimes, and some voyages are definitely better than others, but it’s fun.” _Especially when it means you get to meet cute boys_ , he thinks, but is too shy to add. 

Soonyoung beams up at him. “You work with your friends? How many of you are there?”

“Um, six. Seven, including me. Three of us at the pools, two in entertainment and two in the daycare. You met them. Jeonghan-hyung has long blond hair and Minghao has like, a mullet.”

Soonyoung’s mouth turns into a circle. “Yes! They helped me! Well. Minghao did. That’s so cool. We should hang out together! Are you allowed to leave the ship when we dock?”

“Yeah, they usually give us a few hours. Depends on the roster.” 

“Yes! I mean. Whatever. Ha-ha-ha.” Soonyoung tosses his last basketball without looking and it ricochets sadly off the ring.

The machine spits some consolation tickets at them and Mingyu wraps them around Soonyoung’s neck like a scarf. “Sounds fun,” he says. 

Soonyoung’s cheeks go pink. They might be having a moment if they weren’t surrounded by screaming ten year-olds and Mingyu hadn’t noticed Wonwoo and Chan staring at them through a gap between the pinball machines five minutes ago.

Mingyu clears his throat and steps back. “Actually, I ran into Jihoon earlier. That’s how I knew you were here. I left him with my friend Seokmin.” Wait. Mingyu hadn’t meant to say that he was essentially stalking Soonyoung. God, having a big mouth is all fun and games until it makes you reveal your inner truths.

Thankfully that’s not the part of the message Soonyoung focuses on. 

“Seokmin…” he says darkly, like it’s the name of his arch-nemisis. “Who’s that?”

“He’s sort of a ship MC. He helped host the safety briefing you missed.”

Soonyoung gasps and starts flapping his hands like he’s eaten something sour. “Is he cute?!”

“The cutest.”

“Does he have a friend?!”

“Several…”

“Oh my god, hang on.” Soonyoung pushes a fingertip against Mingyu’s lips, brow furrowed. “I’m thinking.” They stand like that for a few long seconds before Soonyoung gasps like he just found out the earth is round.

“What? What is it?” Mingyu says, trying really hard not to think about Soonyoung’s finger catching on his bottom lip.

“The dots. I’ve connected them.” He grips Mingyu by the upper arms and shakes him with a manic grin. “Ah, Kwon Soonyoung, you have such a big brain!”

“Wait… _you’re_ Kwon Soonyoung.”

“I am! Oh my god. And you’re Kim Mingyu.”

“You’re _both_ making me lose braincells,” Wonwoo yells from between the pinball machines. Jun takes a photo of them with the flash on. 

Mingyu feels like he’s been thrown into the middle of a movie set with no idea how the script goes. He kind of loves it.


	3. I'm on the deck with my boys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the rating reeeeally jumped up hhahhhhaa.... i did tag hoshi (hoshi horny) after all... can you blame him...
> 
> hope you enjoy this lil wrap up to a fun story!! thanks for reading!!

Soonyoung leads the way out of the elevator once they reach the upper deck, but after a few steps he realises only Mingyu has followed him. “Wait,” he says, looking around Mingyu’s beefy bod to see Jun and Wonwoo walking in the other direction. “Where are you going?!”

Jun shrugs, walking backwards. “To my chambers.”

Soonyoung smiles graciously up at Mingyu. “One moment.” He power-walks down the corridor towards his friends because it’s late and he doesn’t want to get in trouble for running. “Guys, what the fuck?!” he hisses.

“What?” Wonwoo says. “Don’t you want to be alone with him?”

“Unless you want us to… hang around…” Jun smirks. Soonyoung gags. Sleeping with The Boys is not on the week’s agenda. Unless the Mingyu plan falls through.

Jun looks unbothered. “Let me know if you need lube. I brought extra.”

Wonwoo looks at him with high eyebrows. “Why?”

“Because he forgets,” says Jun.

“I did forget,” sighs Soonyoung.

“Wait, what about Chan?” asks Wonwoo.

“Good idea, I’ll ask him—”

“No I meant—you can’t fuck Mingyu with Chan two feet away. That’s weird.”

“Arguable,” Jun says.

Soonyoung waves them off. “He can sleep in Jihoon’s bed, there’s plenty of room.”

Wonwoo snorts. “Good luck getting either of them to agree to that.”

“But I’m the birthday boy,” Soonyoung pouts.

“Yeah, see how far that gets you.”

*

“No,” says Jihoon.

“But—”

“Why don’t you just go back to _his_ room?”

“Uh, because I’m not a staff member?” Soonyoung scoffs. Jihoon drains the rest of his cocktail and looks up at the stars.

Mingyu keeps shooting looks over at them and smiling while Seokmin talks his ear off about something. Soonyoung returns the smiles shyly, feeling giddy like a teenager. Jihoon is still silent but Soonyoung can see his resolve crumbling. He gives it a few more seconds. Gotta let Jihoon think it’s his idea.

“Fine,” Jihoon finally concedes. “But only once.”

“Yes!” Soonyoung cries. He pulls Jihoon in by the neck and kisses his hair. He gets fiercely shoved away, but it’s worth it. “If it’s going to happen I’ll text you something like…” He spreads his hands out. “ _The tiger requires his love nest._ ”

“You send me that and you two can fuck in the emergency escape boats.”

“I’m down. Actually, no, I don’t want to get seasick in the middle of getting fucked.” Jihoon opens his mouth to speak but Soonyoung pats him on the shoulder, cutting him off. “Look I’d love to stick around but something’s come up.”

“Don’t say it.”

“My dick.”

Jihoon looks him dead in the eyes and says, “I’m never doing you any favours ever again.”

“You’re so sexy when you’re mad,” Soonyoung whispers.

“I will punch you in the face.”

*

Soonyoung loses the baggage, and by baggage he means Jihoon and his tall sexy friend with the nose.

They didn’t say much to each other but Seokmin looks trustworthy and he laughed at something Soonyoung said, so he feels comfortable leaving them together.

If he’s honest, Jihoon’s health and wellbeing is pretty low on his list of priorities right now—he’s in an elevator with a six-foot-two sex god who saves lives for a living. According to Soonyoung’s quick maths, that means he’s got basic empathy skills. The bar is so low.

He cuts his eyes to the side and takes in Mingyu’s figure, his tanned skin and broad chest, his corded forearms, the angle of his jaw, and his stomach drops.

Oh _god_ , Soonyoung is peaking sexually two days before his twenty-fifth birthday. It’s all downhill from here. He clutches the railing of the elevator for support.

“Are you alright?” Mingyu asks, taking a half step towards him.

Soonyoung flaps his hand. “Just processing something, give me a second.”

“Are you going to be sick?”

“No…”

Mingyu giggles. “You sound unsure.”

Soonyoung exhales and straightens up. “I’m okay.” He smiles at Mingyu for good measure and his stomach flops when Mingyu smiles back. He’s so gorgeous. Soonyoung wants to climb him like a middle-aged guy who thinks bouldering is a personality trait, but there’s a family in the elevator with them. He settles for a purposeful up-and-down of his eyes and revels in the way the tips of Mingyu’s ears turn red.

They reach his floor and Soonyoung gets out. Mingyu follows almost hesitantly, one hand scratching at the back of his head. The corridor is empty. The ship lights are warm. Everything smells like jasmine and sea-salt and Soonyoung is starting to get lightheaded from how hard is heart is beating. He’s 99% sure Mingyu is interested in sleeping with him, but that 1% feels like a grand piano waiting to drop onto his head and splatter him onto the pavement.

He takes a deep breath and leans his shoulder against the wall beside the elevator doors. “Hey,” he says, aloof.

“Hi,” Mingyu giggles.

“If I were to walk back to my room… would you follow me?”

Mingyu’s face falls. “Oh my god I wouldn’t—I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, shit, sorry I like know where your room is but I—fuck—it’s not a creepy thing I swear, I just asked your friend and he—”

“Mingyu,” Soonyoung laughs, “I’m trying to seduce you.”

“Oh.” Mingyu’s smile goes lopsided, his eyelids heavy. “In that case… lead the way.”

Soonyoung tamps down the urge to fist pump and starts walking confidently down the corridor, pulling out his phone to send a frantic string of tiger and splash emojis to the group chat.

“It’s the other way,” Mingyu calls.

“Of course,” Soonyoung says, robotically changing directions. When he catches up to Mingyu, Mingyu reaches between them and links their fingers together. Soonyoung isn’t quick enough to mask his surprise.

“Is this okay?” Mingyu asks, bottom lip worried between his teeth. Soonyoung wants to suck on it.

“Yeah,” he exhales. “Yeah it’s okay.” He swings their hands together as they walk, feeling less nervous now and more excited at the prospect of bringing Mingyu back to his room for a sex marathon. Is there an ocean equivalent for the Mile High Club? Maybe the Knotted At Sea Society. Hm. Soonyoung makes a mental note to look it up once he’s a VIP member.

They reach his and Chan’s room and Soonyoung opens the door slowly, just in case Chan came back early and hasn’t seen his message yet, but the room is empty. Thank god. He’s going to buy that little guy a fancy drink tomorrow.

“Welcome,” Soonyoung says grandly. He’s not sure when he should drop the comedy act—it’s starting to feel like armour at this point. He’s always been good at flicking between shades of confidence but something about the muted quiet of the room and the way Mingyu walks into it so easily makes the nerves creep back. He knows his body, knows how to use it, but Mingyu is…

Mingyu has been nothing but wonderful and sweet since the second they met. Soonyoung wonders how often people look at him and think he is shallow, just because he is beautiful and quick to smile. How hard does Mingyu have to work to be taken seriously? Soonyoung feels like he has to do it constantly. So shy and quiet around new people and then dialled up to a hundred as soon as he feels comfortable. It’s not everyone’s ideal type.

He shakes himself out of it. Mingyu isn’t trying to date him. He’s here to fuck, and so is Soonyoung. They’re wasting precious time.

Soonyoung locks the door and Mingyu crowds against him with hands on his waist, pulling their hips together. Soonyoung lets himself be handled. “I’m gonna kiss you now,” Mingyu says, bringing one hand up to push Soonyoung’s hair out of his eyes before resting it at the back of his neck. Soonyoung simply nods, struck dumb at the sudden press of heat all along his front, the sheer size of Mingyu wrapped around him, how nice he smells. Mingyu has to bend down to kiss him, just a little, and he cradles Soonyoung’s head when he tilts it back to slot their mouths together.

Soonyoung holds onto Mingyu’s upper arms as they kiss. He groans into Mingyu mouth when he digs his thumb into the muscle and it flexes. “Can you carry me to the bed?” he asks desperately. The bed hits the back of his knees and he laughs into Mingyu’s mouth, embarrassed.

Mingyu picks him up anyway, hands on Soonyoung’s ass, and Soonyoung wraps his thighs around his hips greedily, getting his hands in Mingyu’s hair. Mingyu turns to sit on the mattress and Soonyoung settles in his lap like he belongs there.

The confidence comes back in waves. Every time Mingyu makes a noise at something Soonyoung does, every twitch of his hands, every cut off gasp. It builds like blocks until Soonyoung is rolling his hips against Mingyu’s with his knees spread out, head tossed back like Mingyu is already inside him. God, he wants that.

Mingyu finishes sucking a hickey into the base of Soonyoung’s throat and looks down between them, watching the way Soonyoung’s body rolls against his with his brows pinched together.

“Will you fuck me?”

Soonyoung stops moving.

Mingyu’s eyes go wide.

“You want me to…” Soonyoung trails off. That is not how he pictured this going. His reaction makes Mingyu shrink into himself and Soonyoung absolutely hates the sight. He gathers Mingyu’s face between his hands and brings their eyes together. “Yes. Yes, oh god, what a sacrifice,” he says dramatically.

Mingyu melts against him, pliant, and Soonyoung’s brain sets off like a fire alarm, bright red and blinding. _Mingyu wants me to fuck him. My dick is going insde Mingyu._ It feels like being slapped in the face with a fish, except that hasn’t actually happened to Soonyoung before and he hopes it doesn’t because he might have a horny reaction to it, now. Anyway.

He kisses Mingyu tongue first and rolls his body against him, chest to hips. Mingyu groans and clings to the material of Soonyoung’s shirt, palms hot against his ribs. He’s already hard and Soonyoung wants to know what he’s dealing with—or more, what he’s missing out on—so he snakes one of his hands between their bodies and wraps his fingers around Mingyu’s dick over his shorts. He sighs despondently.

“I can still suck you off, right?”

Mingyu laughs. “Yeah,” he says, voice thin.

“Excellent. Time to get naked.”

Soonyoung starts to get off Mingyu’s lap, but he’s stopped by Mingyu’s grip around his waist. He raises an eyebrow in question. “Clothes on? I can do that.” He dives back in to kiss Mingyu but is stopped by a finger on his mouth.

“No I just… I want to do it,” Mingyu says quietly. Everything he says sends a thrill down Soonyoung’s spine. He holds his arms up over his head to let Mingyu peel the material off. He does it slowly, chasing his fingers with his mouth, up Soonyoung’s sternum, licking around each nipple, over his collarbones. By the time Sooynoung’s shirt is off, he’s squirming, leaking in his shorts. Mingyu notices. He smirks and digs his thumbs into Soonyoung’s inner thighs, pressing under the hem of his shorts and stretching his legs further apart. Soonyoung likes being on display, but he still twitches with it and tries to close his legs. Mingyu holds him open, fingers inching up under his shorts, digging into the muscle.

Soonyoung’s chest heaves. “Please tell me we can do this again because I _need_ you to fuck me. At least once. I think I’ll die if you don’t.”

Mingyu laughs into his neck and licks along the sweat coating his throat. Soonyoung moans loudly. “I think I can do that,” Mingyu says, voice low.

“Good,” Soonyoung breathes, “Can you let me go? I need to retrieve the goods.” Mingyu takes his hands back like he didn’t even notice how deserpately they were taking stock of Soonyoung’s body. “Lie back.”

He gets off Mingyu and drops his shorts so that it’s a little easier to walk back to his suitcase. There’s a bottle of lube and a string of condoms broken up and arranged into the shape of a dick. He makes a mental note to thank Jun later. He squats down to take two of the condoms. He hesitates. He takes three. Who knows.

When he turns back to the bed, his breath catches. Mingyu is, as instructed, lying back, but he’s also naked now and he’s lazily stroking his dick while his eyes follow Soonyoung’s every move.

“Fuck,” Soonyoung says emphatically. Mingyu laughs, but he doesn’t curl into himself this time. Like he’s also settled into the moment. Like he feels comfortable. It makes Soonyoung feel oddly emotional. They’re still near-strangers, and these sorts of things can be so awkward and hurried; people’s edges don’t always match up in the right way. Soonyoung got fucked by a really hot guy three months ago and it felt like he was walking naked through a car wash. But like, really fast, and in total silence. It was bad.

“Are you going to just stare at me?” asks Mingyu.

“Right,” Soonyoung says. He kicks off his underwear and flings the material away with his foot. It lands in Chan’s suitcase. Oh well.

Mingyu welcomes him onto the bed with a kiss, propped up by one hand. Soonyoung kneels over him and it forces Mingyu to bend his head back to keep their mouths together. He pulls back just enough to admire the wetness of Mingyu’s mouth and the way his eyelids are fluttering. “Before we get started,” he says, lips slick against Mingyu’s, “any do’s and don’ts?”

“I’ll tell you if I don’t like something,” Mingyu says.

“And if you do?” Soonyoung shoves Mingyu back against the mattress with a hand on his chest, fingers splayed against the muscle, sliding a little with sweat already. Mingyu looks at him from the pillows, breathless.

“I liked that.”

“Thought so.” Soonyoung grins, moving down Mingyu’s body. He tears open one of the condoms and slides it over Mingyu’s dick, pumping his hand a few times to watch Mingyu’s stomach muscles twitch. “I like being choked,” he says casually, and Mingyu swears at the ceiling. He licks a long strip up the underside of Mingyu’s dick and wrinkles his nose. Trust Jun to buy the flavoured shit. He looks up at Mingyu and winks. “Conveniently, you have a huge cock, so here we go.”

He counts himself in like it’s a dance routine and then he takes Mingyu into his mouth as far as he can manage without gagging. Mingyu lets out a shaky breath and fists his hands in the sheets. Soonyoung loses himself to it for a few minutes, trying to find a pace that makes Mingyu react. Mingyu props himself up on his hand again and tentatively puts a hand on the back of Soonyoung’s head. Soonyoung groans to show how much he likes it and Mingyu accepts the invitation with a roll of his hips.

He smoothly fucks into Soonyoung’s mouth a few times, holding him down once or twice until he pushes against Mingyu’s hand to be let up for air. Mingyu learns fast. Soonyoung is impossibly hard against the sheets. He pulls back to kiss Mingyu’s hipbone and then sits up to find the lube.

“You’re good at that,” Mingyu says breathlessly, tugging him close for a kiss, uncaring of the weird mix of lube, spit and artificial raspberries coating Soonyoung’s mouth.

“And that was just the warm up,” Soonyoung says, pushing joke out around the croak in his throat. Mingyu giggles and kisses his chin, the angle of his jaw, like if he stops touching Soonyoung he’ll die. It makes him feel flushed and heady.

Mingyu with two fingers pressed against his rim is like every one of Soonyoung’s wet dreams come true. It’s even worse when Soonyoung presses inside him, feeling the clench of Mingyu’s walls around his fingers and imagining his dick sliding in, wet and easy. He starts to rush a little in his excitement and Mingyu has to reach down to hold onto his wrist, guiding him back into a slower pace.

“Can you—your mouth—” Mingyu breathes. Soonyoung bends his body to get the tip of Mingyu’s cock between his lips, swirling his tongue in exaggerated patterns so that Mingyu can have the visual as well as the feeling, to distract him from the third finger Soonyoung presses into him.

They’re using enough lube to drip onto the sheets and it’s building a healthy wet patch in the centre of the bed, but Soonyoung can’t bring himself to care. He’ll sleep in the other bed. He’ll sleep on the fucking floor if that’s what it takes.

Soonyoung breathes out against Mingyu’s inner thigh, closing his teeth around the soft flesh, high enough above his tan line that it won’t show while he’s working unless he sits down, thighs flaring out. The visual makes Soonyoung close his eyes with a moan; he presses a desperate line of kisses up to the crease of Mingyu’s hips and looks up to make eye contact as he works his fingers in and out. Mingyu’s chest is flushed and heaving, one of his arms thrown over his eyes.

“Mingyu.” He looks down at Soonyoung with wild eyes and Soonyoung crooks his fingers. The sound Mingyu makes is like it’s been torn from his chest. Soonyoung whimpers against his skin. “Please tell me you’re ready,” he pleads. He’s not even sure how long he’s going to last—embarrassing as it would be to bust the second he presses into Mingyu, he finds he doesn’t even care. He wants to come so badly, but he wants to see Mingyu come even more.

“Yeah,” Mingyu nods quickly. “Yes, I’m ready.”

Soonyoung wipes his fingers on the sheets and rolls a condom on himself. He slicks himself up with lube and Mingyu watches him with his mouth turned into a smirk, hair pushed back from his forehead, strong eyebrows on display.

“You use a lot of lube,” he comments.

“Oh yeah, um.” Soonyoung hesitates, and then he thinks, fuck it. “I’m more used to fucking girls, I guess, it just… like when it’s wetter.”

Mingyu covers his face with his palms and lets out a ragged breath.

“Is it alright?” Soonyoung asks, suddenly unsure. His hips are bucking into his hand, chasing the feeling already, and he holds himself at the base to force himself to relax.

Mingyu nods, hands still covering his face, and Soonyoung grins. He nudges Mingyu’s legs up, bending them at knee, and then he positions himself between them. He uncaps the lube and pours it directly onto Mingyu’s rim, watching it clench around nothing, hearing the way Mingyu’s breath catches and tumbles into a whimper. If possible, Soonyoung gets harder.

He reaches up to pull Mingyu’s hands away from his face and leans in to kiss him. Mingyu clings to his shoulders and kisses him back. He keeps kissing him as he presses in. The sound is loud and awkward between them, but the way it feels is so intense that Soonyoung hardly notices. It’s wet enough to be slippery between their bodies when Soonyoung finally pushes all the way in, palms pressed on either side of Mingyu’s head, arms locked. He grinds his hips in a way that makes Mingyu’s neck strain.

Mingyu’s thighs come up to frame his hips, his heels pressing into the backs of Soonyoung’s thighs as he picks up a rhythm. Soonyoung hasn’t topped a guy in a while, but the mechanics are the same. He thrusts into Mingyu languidly, eyes trained down to watch his dick disappearing in and out of Mingyu’s body.

“Harder,” Mingyu whines, and Soonyoung slams into him hard enough to make him cry out.

“How soundproof are these rooms?” Soonyoung asks, breathless with the energy he’s putting into fucking Mingyu up the single mattress.

“Kind of soundproof,” Mingyu says. He starts touching himself in pace with Soonyoung’s thrust and his eyes roll back. “Fuck, I’m close already.”

“Good,” Soonyoung laughs, biting down on the juncture of Mingyu’s neck and shoulder, “Me too.”

Mingyu laughs through his moan and Soonyoung wishes he could record the sound, in the least creepy way possible. Mingyu starts making urgent, high pitched noises and his hand speeds up around his dick.

“Kiss me,” he pleads, blindly reaching for Soonyoung’s face. His fingers slip on Soonyoung’s skin and Soonyoung says, “Sorry I am like, constantly sweating” and Mingyu says, “Shut up” and he forces their mouths together so that he can come with Soonyoung’s bottom lip trapped between his teeth and Soonyoung’s hips pressed flush to his ass.

The way he clenches around Soonyoung makes Soonyoung see stars. He chokes out a moan and thrusts, once, twice, and comes into the condom with a whimper.

Mingyu is still coming down from his own orgasm, stomach painted white and ribcage expanding with great big breaths, and he exhales with a blissed out smile when he feels Soonyoung come. His free hand moves to grip Soonyoung’s hip and holds him close and deep while he grinds through his orgasm, forearms tucked under Mingyu’s shoulders, forehead pressed into his collarbone.

“Wow,” Soonyoung says. “I don’t think my body works anymore.”

“What will I tell your friends?” Mingyu asks, stroking the back of his head, the sweaty strands catching between his fingers. He doesn’t seem to care. Soonyoung is a little bit in love with him.

“Dick too good,” Soonyoung says solemnly. Mingyu shakes under him with laughter that fractures into a hiss when Soonyoung pulls out. He sits back on his heels and takes stock of the mess he made. “God,” he exhales, dragging his palms down Mingyu’s sides. “You’re so hot.”

“Thanks,” Mingyu says, squirming a little.

“Do compliments make you shy, Mingyu-yah?”

“No,” Mingyu replies, meeting his eyes defiantly.

“Alright, so it’s cool if I tell you that I’ll be getting myself off to the memory of this for the next few months?” Mingyu’s cheeks puff out with an exhale and his ears go red. Soonyoung shrieks in delight. “Fuck, you’re unreal.” He kisses the inside of Mingyu’s knee and clambers off the bed with shaky legs. “I need to shower but… you can go first if you want? I’d offer to go in together but it’s like an escape pod in there.”

“Yeah, the bathroom situation is a bit rough unless you have like, a suite,” Mingyu says, swinging his legs off the side of the bed. “The staff rooms are pretty much like this.”

“Yikes,” Soonyoung says, cracking open a bottle of water and taking three big gulps before handing it to Mingyu. “Do you at least get a discount on food?”

Mingyu chokes around his sip. “We don’t have pay for food, Soonyoung. We’re employees.”

Soonyoung’s jaw drops.

“You get free food?!”

*

Despite the hour, Mingyu manages to find some snacks. He comes back to the room a few minutes after Soonyoung has finished showering, barreling into the room like he’s done something wrong, giggling and hushing Soonyoung when he asks what he found.

Soonyoung hates that he feels relieved that Mingyu came back, as if he would just go back to his room and leave Soonyoung hanging. He’s not that kind of guy. And anyway, they’re trapped on the same ship for the next few days and Soonyoung is (mostly) above petty crimes but Jun and Jihoon aren’t. They’d avenge his honour. Jihoon would probably just try to push Mingyu into the pool but he’s a) half his size and b) Mingyu is a lifeguard so he’d just save himself. Good thing Mingyu is back at the room so they won’t need to resort to such violence.

“I don’t know what flavours you like so I got a few,” Mingyu says, spreading out the bags of potato chips on the floor. Soonyoung takes the sweet chilli chips and Mingyu takes the salt and vinegar.

They sit cross legged on the floor while they eat because apparently Mingyu is a neat freak despite the mess he left behind on the bed.

“Do you want to see how many chips I can fit in my mouth?” Soonyoung asks. He doesn’t wait for an answer before tipping his head back and pouring the bag into his mouth. Crumbs go everywhere. Something goes in his eye. Soonyoung forgets that he’s supposed to be showing his best sides, here—he feels so comfortable around Mingyu that he’s accidentally skipped forward to the gross, careless phase of spending time with someone else. It usually takes at least a month. With Wonwoo, it was less, but that’s Wonwoo. Soonyoung could do anything in front of him and he’d just blink and comment on it like a bitter GoodReads review.

“Um, sorry,” he apologises around his mouthful. Mingyu is leaned against the side of the bed with one knee bent and his eyes halfway to a smile.

“I like you,” he says easily. “You just… do things.”

“That sounds ominous.”

Mingyu shakes his head. “No, I mean—you’re so confident. You don’t overthink anything, you just do it. That’s really cool.”

“Ah, well,” Soonyoung smiles, “Glad it comes off that way but I’m not usually so um… open with new people.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” Mingyu says, brows lifted in laughter that hasn’t arrived yet.

“Yeah,” Soonyoung says, looking at his lap. “You approached me first, though.”

“Because I thought you were about to pass out!”

“Aw, so you didn’t think I was cute?” Soonyoung whines, pushing his bottom lip out. “Not even a little?”

“Yah,” Mingyu kicks at him weakly. “I never sleep with guests. Consider yourself special.”

Soonyoung’s mouth drops open a little. “You’re joking.”

Mingyu shrugs, suddenly very interested in the carpet. Soonyoung wipes the chilli dust off on his shorts and closes the gap between them, nudging at Mingyu’s legs until they’re straightened out and he can sit on top of his thighs. Mingyu’s hands come to rest on his hips, a smile around his mouth. “Hi,” he says cutely, pursing his lips.

“Can we do this again?” Soonyoung asks, not meaning to sound as serious as he does. “I just. This was so nice. If you wanted to.” Mingyu leans in and kisses him. His lips are salty but Soonyoung kisses him back anyway, palms resting on Mingyu’s chest.

“I have to repay the favour, don’t I?” Mingyu says when they pull apart, pressing his hips up like a suggestion.

“Oh my god, I’m already hard.”

Mingyu looks down in shock. “No you’re not!”

“No, but I made you look,” Soonyoung sings. Mingyu shoves him off his lap. Soonyoung laughs, all high pitched and annoying, and he doesn’t even give a second thought to how he sounds or looks because Mingyu is smiling at him all sweet, anyway. It’s dangerous. Soonyoung holds onto it for dear life.

*

“You’re walking normally,” Jun says when Soonyoung joins them for breakfast. Jihoon splutters around his sip of orange juice.

“As opposed to what?” Soonyoung asks, sliding into the seat beside Vernon with a tray so full of food it’s at risk of spilling onto the table. “Are we playing a game I don’t know about?”

“He’s “referring” to the man “you” took “back” to your room,” says Chan, making air quotes with his fingers.

“Why those words?” asks Wonwoo, pained. “That was so wrong.”

“Okay, Naver,” says Chan. He turns to Soonyoung. “But seriously, if I got kicked out of my room just so you could be naked by yourself in there, I’ll be really upset.”

Soonyoung pats his arm. “You know I would just be naked with you there anyway. Nudity is nothing to be ashamed of.”

Chan frowns. “True.”

Vernon’s face opens with understanding and he claps once, loud enough to make Soonyoung fumble his breakfast sausage.

“Oh my god. You fucked Mingyu.”

“I knew I could trust you.” Soonyoung pretends to cry onto Vernon’s shoulder. The table erupts in noise that Jihoon violently hushes.

“Are you serious?” Jun gasps. When Soonyoung nods, he groans, takes some money out of his pocket and hands it to a smug Wonwoo.

“Bro, you bet on me topping?” Soonyoung asks, reaching out for Wonwoo’s hand between their plates. “You really don’t know me.”

“It was an educated guess about Mingyu,” Wonwoo says, allowing Soonyoung to hold his hand even though it’s sticky with syrup. “He has a vibe.”

“Like, _I wanna get fucked_ or _I’ve got a complex about my height and it follows me into the bedroom_?”

Chan glances at Jihoon. Jihoon punches him in the shoulder.

“Neither,” said Wonwoo. “I just know how to read people, I guess.”

“Incredible,” breathes Soonyoung. Wonwoo is so smart. He turns to the table. “Anyway, it was amazing. Thanks for the supplies, by the way,” he tells Jun.

“Which flavour did you pick?”

“I’m not telling you, pervert,” Soonyoung says, but he holds a hand next to his face and mouths the word _raspberry._ Jun nods sagely. It’s the last of the questions, and Soonyoung is thankful. Usually he’s all about telling The Boys exactly how a night went down; he spares no details. However, he wants to keep this to himself, if not for him, then for Mingyu. He might be a loudmouth but he doesn’t want to make Mingyu uncomfortable by sharing something private with people he doesn’t know, and will likely see multiple times over the following days.

Before he left last night to go back to his room, complaining about an early start for his shift, he held Soonyoung close and kissed him like he would never get the chance again. Soonyoung’s hair isn’t long enough to sit behind his ears, but Mingyu made the motion of tucking it back anyway, tracing his fingers down the side of Soonyoung’s face, his neck, his collarbone. It was absurdly intimate, for what they are, and Soonyoung was left alone in the dark after he left, touching his mouth and catching his breath.

He zones out multiple times at breakfast thinking about it, and Chan is the only one who notices, but he doesn’t tease him. His face just goes all soft and he gives Soonyoung his extra plate of eggs.

“You’re my favourite,” Soonyoung tells him.

Chan beams. “I know.”

*

Soonyoung drags Vernon to the pool after breakfast because he’s the only one that won’t put up a fight, following Soonyoung with a simple shrug and a hand in his pocket.

It’s still early and the weather isn’t as good today, so the crowd around the pool is smaller. Mingyu has his back turned to Soonyoung when they approach. He’s talking to another staff member who is wearing sunglasses and wearing a sweater tied around his neck like he’s at a country club instead of hanging out beside a chlorine hot pot. He’s drinking an iced coffee in small, aggressive sips. Soonyoung is a bit scared to approach them, but the new guy clocks him when he’s still a good ten metres away. He pushes his sunglasses into his hair and smiles.

“Hello,” he says, dismounting the poolside like a pageant girl. “Hi. You must be Soonyoung. I’m Seungkwan. It’s so nice to meet you.” He says all of it while looking at Vernon.

“Hi!” Soonyoung says nervously. “Um, this is Vernon.”

“Vernon!” Seungkwan warbles. “I love your shirt.”

“Yeah,” Vernon smiles slowly. “You already said. I’m the guy you called out at the safety briefing.”

Seungkwan laughs and flaps his hand like he’s been accused of fraud in front of the media. “Ah yes, that was just um, a bit of improv. You know, _yes, and_ …” He freezes, waiting for something, and Soonyoung watches the light leave his eyes the longer the silence stretches on.

“Um,” Vernon cuts in, “I could go for coffee, where did you get that from?” He points to Seungkwan’s drink and Seungkwan practically melts with relief.

“I’ll show you!” He links his arm through Vernon’s and whisks him away with a half-assed, “Bye Mingyu!” over his shoulder.

Right. Mingyu.

Soonyoung turns to find him leaning against the tall lifeguard chair with his hands in the pocket of his shorts. It pulls the material tight around his groin and Soonyoung has to force himself to look at his face.

“Morning,” Mingyu says softly. He doesn’t look like he only got three hours of sleep. He looks beautiful.

“Hey.” Soonyoung smiles and juts his thumb over his shoulder. “How about that guy, huh?”

“Oh, Seungkwan? Yeah, I think he has a crush on your friend.”

Soonyoung shrugs. “Everyone’s got a crush on Vernon. He’s not special.”

“No but he is Boo Seungkwan,” says Mingyu. He doesn’t elaborate, which makes Soonyoung even more afraid.

“You um,” Mingyu starts, and then he looks over his shoulder where the dark-haired lifeguard is standing close enough to hear. They’re definitely eavesdropping. Nobody actually reads the signs next to the pool. “Come with me,” Mingyu says, pulling Soonyoung along by the hand. “Cheol-hyung, I’ll be back in ten.”

“You better be!”

Mingyu blows him a kiss and tugs Soonyoung around the edge of the pool and over to the bannister where there are no people. It’s a little windier on this side, and Soonyoung’s hair crashes around his face, Mingyu’s doing the same but probably looking ten times sexier. He leans his elbows on the railing and looks out at the water. Soonyoung mirrors the movement, and Mingyu shuffles over so that they’re close enough to share body heat.

“I’d kiss you if there weren’t managers randomly walking around the deck,” Mingyu says casually, and Soonyoung aches when he winks at him. “Technically, we’re not meant to sleep with the guests.”

“Am I your dirty little secret, Mingyu-yah?” Soonyoung teases. He doesn't expect Mingyu’s eyes to turn sad. He backtracks. “It was a joke. Um. Sorry.”

Mingyu puts his head in his hands and groans. “No, I’m sorry, you probably think I’m weird and like, clingy. I just… get attached quickly. It’s kind of annoying.”

Soonyoung straightens up and faces him instead of the ocean. “You’re attached? To me?” He points at his chest.

Mingyu leans his cheek on his bicep and looks up at Soonyoung. “Is that alright?” he asks, voice so small it’s almost lost to the wind.

Soonyoung feels stupid about how big he smiles. He holds out his pinky and links it together with Mingyu’s.

“Yeah. That’s alright.”

“Cool,” Mingyu hides his smile in the crook of his elbow. Soonyoung can’t wait to get him alone.

“In the interest of being open about our feelings…” He pulls out his phone. Mingyu watches him curiously as he taps around for the voice notes app. “Day three. I had so much food for breakfast I gave myself a stomach ache.” Mingyu giggles into his arm. “Tomorrow, take one plate and work yourself up from there. It’s okay to go back for seconds, nobody is judging you.”

He hesitates. He says the next part looking out at the water.

“The beautiful man I met on day one is still beautiful. His name is Mingyu. We had sex last night. The way he kissed me afterwards made me feel like… I don’t know.” He looks back to see Mingyu’s eyes on him, wide and lovely. Soonyoung forces himself to be confident. “It made me feel really special.” Mingyu’s nose scrunches up and it makes Sooynoung’s stomach go wild. He really hopes it’s not a seasickness thing. “Um, so anyway. Birthday tomorrow. Should be fun. Talk to you later. Spirit of the tiger.” He growls and ends the recording.

“Spirit of the what?” Mingyu laughs, straightening up.

“Oh Mingyu.” Soonyoung sways their linked pinkies together. “I have so much to teach you.”

**Author's Note:**

> mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMINGYU sexy.
> 
>   
> _A poem by Kwon Soonyoung_
> 
> -  
>    
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/dygonilly)


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